Starship Unsinkable
by ColorMeContented
Summary: James Kirk's favorite pastime is to map the stars passing outside his bedroom window. Imagine his surprise when, one evening, instead of recording a new star system he discovers a life form that no one on Starship Earth has seen since the dissolve of the Federation. Slow build K/S, slash in later chapters.
1. Something in the Stars

Starship Unsinkable

Rated: M

Summary: James Kirk's favorite pastime is to map the stars passing outside his bedroom window. Imagine his surprise when, one evening, instead of recording a new star system he discovers a life form that no one on Starship Earth has seen since the dissolve of the Federation. Slow build K/S, slash in later chapters.

**Hello, welcome to Starship Unsinkable! I will try to do my best and keep everyone as in character as I can (I apologize for any misinformations and stuff) so please let me know how I'm doing! I've always loved Star trek ever since my dad introduced me to it as a kid and a K/S relationship never seemed far off base to me, I don't think he thought it was unbelievable either, lol. I usually write a ton in the beginning and update regularly but get slower pretty quickly… bonus points to anyone patient enough to give me a chance!**

**Reviews and favorites and follows and such are appreciated :P**

Chapter one: Something in the Stars

Jim Kirk dragged his index finger slowly across the screen of his iPhone 37s over the contact information of each of his friends, sighing at the disappointing results. It was a Friday night, one hour after Academy students were released for the day and everyone was busy. Scotty had his night classes on turbo thrusters. Chekov and Sulu had a date and refused to let him tag along. Uhura had flat out rejected his request to hang out, and this was one of the few nights a month that Bones got to spend with his daughter, Jim didn't want to take that away from him.

Sighing again, Jim pocketed his phone and trudged silently the rest of the way to Academy barracks and his room.

Honestly he thought it was silly that the Admiralty forced Academy students into separate housing away from their families, not that it affected him much what with his dad a long dead legend and his mom passing the previous year as well as Sam wanting literally nothing to do with him. Fortunately due to George Kirk's relationship with Admiral Pike and Jim's subsequent adoption by the man after his mom's passing he'd managed to get Bones four nights and seven days a month living with his kid.

Jim smiled at the memory. Anytime he got to do something to benefit his friends he jumped at the chance, lord knows Bones had brought him back from near death enough times to warrant a few favors.

Stopping in front of his room Jim punched in the key code and stepped inside. The door slid shut behind him as he tossed the book bag slung over his shoulder to the floor and toed off his shoes.

His room was small even by Academy standards; mostly because Jim had refused Pike's offer to buy him a suite to live in during his years on the command track. In the Admiral's opinion a future Captain should have the best of accommodations but Jim felt that he should always give the best to his crew and preferred the studio apartment.

What he had accepted from pike, though, was a room with a window.

Jim made his way to the porthole window set high in his wall where a massive titanium telescope sat trained at the vast expanse of space just as close as three feet of reinforced steel paneling.

Careful to not bump his arrangement Jim sat down at the small stool accompanying the telescope and pressed his right eye to the sight.

It was magnificent, seeing outside of Starship Earth. The majority of people lived their entire lives in the heart of the ship without ever getting a glimpse of what was actually out there. Everyone knew the history of Starship Earth, they taught it in schools, but it seemed that no one gave a damn about its future.

Starship Earth was approximately the size of what used to be the continental United States with fifty floors categorized by the name of a state that once was.

Sometime in the late two thousands the Federation dissolved, ravaged by Klingon invaders and too many wars the surviving members of Starfleet built a starship able to withstand the vacuum of space for hundreds of years while carrying a large population of humans in search of a new homeland. Grandpa Tiberius Kirk had participated in that project which inspired George to join Starfleet and die in action twenty years later defending his father's legacy from Romulans which caused Jim to decide to join the Academy the previous year on his seventeenth birthday.

"That binary orbit's hardly shifted, he haven't moved far today." Jim mumbled. He reached for the desk on his left, retrieving the small blue notebook and pencil. He quickly jotted down his findings before replacing it and looking out the window again.

Not only did Jim enjoy the stars, he figured that someone who was aiming to become an Admiral should know something about them.

Jim glanced at the clock, barely recognizing that it was ten before realizing that something wasn't right.

He nearly slammed his face onto the sight, jerking it away from where it had been trained to focus on a single bright white object that had caught his eye, different from a star because of its subtle yet noticeable movement and the fact that it was visibly banged up from various altercations with asteroids and was oblong.

For a moment Jim didn't know what to do. in his journal he had documented the space outside is window every night since he was thirteen and never once had he seen any semblance of debris. He didn't know whether to ignore it or report it to security.

"What the hell?" as the object turned slowly he caught a glimpse of the edge of a porthole window much like his own and he watched, enraptured, as the module made a full turn towards the ship to reveal the pale lax face of a young man.

Jim jerked away from the telescope, eyes widened in confusion and fear.

There shouldn't be anyone outside.

No one went outside, not even the Admirals. Ever.

He scrambled from his seat to the floor where he'd thrown his backpack and fumbled about for his phone before darting back to the window to relocate the object floating listlessly in space.

He called security and was met with a dull tone and a perky female voice.

"_I'm sorry; Starfleet security cannot come to the phone right now. Please leave your name, number, and emergency and we will serve you as soon as we are able. Thank you."_

"Damn it!" Jim ended the call, mashing the numbers until Pike's name flashed on the screen.

"Jim?" the Admiral yawned on the other line, "Why are you calling? You know I have Alpha shift tomorrow right?"

"Chris, there's someone outside!" Jim hollered frantically, "And security's not answering the phone, you have to do something!"

"What? Jim you know that's not possible, what do you mean?"

Jim pinched the bridge of his nose. "There's a guy in a – like a space tube thing outside my window, I'm looking at him right now! Chris, he could be dying!"

The other line was quiet until Pike let out a low chuckle.

"Yea, alright Jim – hey, how about you tell that Montgomery Scott to dial back on the pot distribution, yea? That stuff's really getting to your head."

Then the line went dead.

Jim threw his phone, "Shit!" he glanced out the window then, without missing a beat, charged out the door and down the hall on his way to the only accessible exit from the ship. The garbage hanger was on the lowest floor, three down from Academy housing and was the only place on the whole ship where they opened the airtight seals to get rid of waste.

If no one was going to listen to him he'd just go outside himself.

Jim pushed the implications of such an action to the back of his mind. He didn't think about how he could implode if there was a tear in his suit or how he could be pummeled to death by asteroids and he didn't _dare_ think about what would happen if Pike found out. His only justification was that a man could die alone today. And Jim was ready to do anything to prevent that.

Not a single person questioned him as he tore through the halls, seeing as he still hadn't shed his uniform for the night. Not everyone on Starship Earth was Starfleet personnel. Some lived on the Midwest floors and were agriculturalists, others on the far east and southern floors to work in factories. Generally families stayed in the same business for generations and hardly explored other floors but it wasn't strange to see any Starfleet cadets on a different floor than they lived.

His stomach churned as he ran, fear that the man in the module was already dead coursing through his veins.

Upon reaching the basement level, Jim found the nearest linen closet and pulled on the first spacesuit he could find before barging into the excretion room from which the garbage was actually dumped.

Jim puffed out his chest and used his best I-know-what-the-hell-I'm-doing voice when the workers all stopped to look at him.

He pointed to one of the tethers that kept workers safe as they cleared out waste.

"I need to be tethered down and given full use of this facility for the next half hour, by order of Admiral Pike." When no one moved Jim turned his glare on the man working the doors, "Now!" he demanded.

Immediately a tether was attached to his suit and every last worker had scrambled from the room leaving Jim alone.

Jim looked over the control panel for the doors.

"Now… how does this thing work?" he mumbled. Shrugging, Jim began pressing buttons. Red opened the outer door and yellow the inner.

He hit the yellow button, sealing off the interior of Spaceship Earth from the vacuum of space. He had a small panic attack upon hitting the red button and feeling his feet begin to lift from the floor as he was thrown violently from the hanger.

Jim opened his eyes, not having realized he'd closed them, and marveled at the sight before him. His feet had no floor to walk on, his lungs no air to breathe except that which was provided by his suit. He should have been terrified, but to Jim Kirk the feeling of being encapsulated by complete nothingness was strangely calming.

They don't teach you _that_ in the Academy.

Once he'd recovered from his shock Jim looked up to see that the module had floated closer to the ship. Slowly he started towards it.

Soon he began to grow tired and fifteen minutes later his arms and legs were lead and he wished he had told the garbage men an hour instead of thirty minutes but he wasn't giving up. Jim kept twisting around in futile attempts to alter his trajectory until he was close enough that his fingers brushed the shell.

He made a grab for it and, once his fingers caught onto an indentation caused by impact, began towing it back to the ship.

… … …

Jim collapsed to his hands and knees wheezing as soon as the outer door had shut. He wrenched the helmet from his head and the suit from his body as he hauled himself up and approached the object.

It was about ten feet in length and had at one time been flawlessly smooth. The only other feature visible on the white metal besides the porthole was a barely there seam running lengthwise around the center.

Jim placed his hand on it, recoiling immediately as the module emitted a rather alarming noise as it separated into two halves. Steam rolled from the gap as the top shifted up and to the side due to some foreign machines. Only stopping when the lid had been completely removed and the young man inside left uncovered.

Jim's eyes widened as he leaned over the open capsule.

This was definitely a young man, in his mid-twenties at best with translucent pale green skin and shaggy black hair that was so long it nearly covered his eyes. In sleep his thin lips were pressed into a flat line as though he were unsure of the situation. His tall body was wrapped in something that Jim initially mistook for a bathrobe but his feet were bare, and his hands were folded on his chest though Jim – much to his relief – could easily see the gentle steady intake of breath.

"At least you're alive –" he was interrupted by the shuffling of feet in the hall. "Half hour must be up." He stooped down and grabbed one of the man's hands, throwing his arm around his shoulder and Jim's arm around his waist and hoisting him up.

Jim grunted when he had the man's dead weight leaning completely on him.

"Damn," he hissed, "Why are you so heavy?"

As people returned to work through one door Jim dragged the unconscious man out the other and into the hall, barely making it out when he heard someone call out.

"Hey, where'd that Starfleet guy go?"

Once in the hall Jim shifted his weight so that the man was practically laying across his back so that Jim was bent forward, carrying him in the most awkward way possible.

It was half past eleven by Jim's calculations and therefore security would be roaming the halls to enforce curfew.

Suddenly he slammed up against a wall as a red shirt security guard tottered past; whistling a tune loud enough that he didn't hear Jim's labored breathing.

Once Giotto had passed he darted to the turbolift, letting the man to the floor as soon as the doors closed.

Jim slid down the floor from pure exhaustion, looking over his rescue as they slowly climbed floors.

The guy had absolutely no right to be so heavy considering he was skinny enough to be 130 pounds tops, it was worrisome really. There was no way he was going to be able to make it back to his room alone.

A sly smile spread across his face.

Didn't Bones live right next to the lift?

… … …

Leonard McCoy sat sprawled on his couch, eyes glued to the television, thoroughly content with his day's work. At the Academy he'd saved a man from a lifetime of blindness by perfectly executing the proper transplant and then got to spend the evening with his daughter. Despite how much fun tea parties are he was still glad that her bedtime was eight.

McCoy was jarred from his contentment by a harsh knock at his door.

"Whaddaya want?" he hollered, confident that the sound proof bedroom walls would keep Joanna from hearing him.

"Bones?" god damn, it was Jim, "Bones, are you awake? Get out here I need help!"

McCoy rolled his eyes. Whenever was there a time when Jim Kirk _didn't_ need help?

Without answering Leonard got up and trudged to his room where Joanna lay sleeping in the middle of the bed, dwarfed by the enormity of it coupled with the fact that she was only five.

He quickly wrote up a note explaining that Uncle Jim was an idiot and that he needed daddy's help before venturing back into the front room, switching off the tele and finally answered the door to Jim grinning wildly with some dead guy draped across his shoulders.

McCoy almost slammed the door in his face.

… … …

"Really Jim?" he chastised, "I know you don't like to take no for an answer but this is a new low even for you!"

Jim scowled, "Geez Bones I didn't drug the guy, I found him, I need you to help me get him to my room."

McCoy gave him an unsure look.

Jim rolled his eyes, "I'll explain everything when we get there just… help me would ya? And bring your stuff."

"Fine," he growled, grabbing up a bag of diagnostic tools, "But you owe me big time!"

Then Bones and Jim waddled down the hall with the "heaviest sonovabitch" in McCoy's opinion, lolling between them.

The two shuffled carefully into Jim's flat and deposited the young man on Jim's sofa.

"So, you just found him huh?" asked McCoy as he riffled through his bag for a diagnostic.

Jim nodded, "He was just floating in space, Pike didn't believe me and security didn't pick up the phone so I got him myself."

McCoy suddenly froze and turned slowly to look at his friend. Absolute disbelief etched into his face.

"You went outside? Like past the hull, floating free outside?"

"Yea," Jim nodded, "it was kinda scary while I was out there but after I got my feet back on solid ground I –"

"You realize you could be arrested for that?" asked McCoy as he began his examination of his patient. "Hell, they could probably kill you Jim, who _knows_ what the punishment is for leaving the ship?"

Jim raised his eyebrows, "Chris wouldn't let that happen." He countered, "He'd probably just order me to apologize or something."

Suddenly McCoy's tricorder beeped and he looked down at the thing, confused.

"This thing must be broken; it says this guy's a Vulcan, what in the hell's a Vulcan?" Bones paused, squinting at the machine in his hand as he held the diagnostic over the man's chest. His eyebrows shot up.

"Jim, this man doesn't have a heart."

"What?" Jim looked at his friend incredulously, "You must be losing your touch Bones, let me see that thing." He made a grab for the tricorder and in doing so brushed his sleeve against the young man's face, causing his hair to fall back revealing his ear.

His tinged green pointed ear.

McCoy shot up and took a step back, his eyes never leaving the ear.

"It's an alien," he mumbled, then yelled, "damn it Jim I don't know anything about aliens! I'm a doctor and you're a damn fool! There's no way in hell Pike's going to let you slide by this, you let and _alien_ on board Starship Earth!"

Jim's hands balled at his sides. "I didn't know Bones! What was I supposed to do, just let him die?"

"Better him than us!"

"You're unbelievable!" Jim scoffed.

"Would you mind keeping your outbursts to a lower level of volume? It is rather unpleasant to wake up to.

Jim and McCoy snapped their mouths shut and turned to the slowly waking figure on Jim's couch.

He'd sat up; once again concealing his pointed ears, and pressed both hands to his head and rubbed at his eyes before squinting up at his hosts.

"It is rather bright in here."

"Computer, lights at fifty percent." Immediately the room dimmed with Jim's abrupt command.

The young man's lips twitched slightly in what Jim assumed to be a smile.

"Thank you." He said.

"It speaks English." McCoy marveled.

The young man straightened his back and turned to Bones. "Indeed I do Doctor, before I was fully awake I could hear parts of your conversation and while I do have a heart it is not where yours resides judging by your reaction, mine," he patted his side, "is here, and my name is Spock."

McCoy ran the tricorder over Spock's side and nodded, affirming what he'd been told.

Jim smiled and held out his hand, "It's nice to meet you Spock, I'm Jim and this here's Bones."

Spock raised a single angled brow at Jim's offered hand. "Vulcans do not shake hands." He informed.

McCoy scowled, "And why is it that you hobgoblins don't shake?" he nodded to Jim, "the guy did just save your life ya know."

"For that I am grateful," said Spock, "but due to the risk of psychic transference with a psi null species I am not permitted to. It is an invasion of privacy."

Spock moved to stand up, wobbling violently and collapsing back onto the couch once his legs gae out.

He blinked in confusion and stared at his legs as though they were venomous snakes.

"I don't understa –" suddenly a wave of nausea hit him and the room spun. Spock groaned and doubled over, putting his face in his hands.

Bones dove to his side with the tricorder again, frantically reading all it had to say.

"Jesus, Jim, he's insanely malnourished and dangerously underweight by human standards," he said as he pulled one of Spock's arms away from his head to hand him a single Dramamine, " And he seems to be experiencing a severe migraine."

Bones worriedly pressed a hand to Spock's side only to feel his heart flutter slightly.

"If we don't get some food in him soon he'll die."

Spock opened his mouth and mumbled something through clenched teeth.

"What?" asked Jim as he sat on the couch next to the ailing Vulcan. Spock jumped slightly as Jim wrapped an arm around his shoulders and rubbing his hand up and down his arm to distract him from the pain.

"I require my meditation tools," Spock gritted out, "They were… in the pod with me."

"Okay," Jim said, nodding, "That's good, I left the pod in the hanger bay, I'll just go down and get the stuff, no big deal."

As he finished speaking the intercom crackled to life overhead.

"_Attention citizens,"_ called a flowery male voice, "_there is an unidentified person traversing Starship Earth, if you see someone you do not recognize on your floor please report the sighting to security immediately. Do not confront him as he may be armed. Thank you for your cooperation."_

Jim's face fell and Bones shook his head.

"I think they found the pod Jim."


	2. Cops and Robbers

Chapter Two: Cops and Robbers

**Hello there! Thank you for the favorites and follows and to Talltree-san for the review!**

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Jim's feet had scuffed permanent marks into the carpet where he'd paced back and forth in front of the couch. Starfleet had Spock's pod and his belongings and it was completely Jim's fault. But it wasn't like he had enough hands to carry everything, right?

He glanced at the couch as he turned. Spock was sprawled on his back, face twisted in obvious pain as Bones tried to force an onion bagel down his throat, but Spock was having none of it. Naturally Jim was worried about his… friend? Yes, by this time as far as he was concerned friendship was an accurate description of whatever was going on.

Jim raked a hand through his hair and frowned. He'd been rattling his brain for a plan for several hours as Spock got progressively worse despite Bones' attempts to cure him. So far Spock refused to eat or drink a single thing. Jim frowned, why couldn't he just eat the damn bagel? Didn't Spock know that Jim was worried about him?

As though he had just read Jim's mind Spock propped himself up on one elbow, snatched the bagel from the doctor and took a large, albeit hesitant, bite.

Jim smiled, "Feeling better already eh Spock? I knew you'd enjoy those onion bagels, you just needed to eat something!" Spock laboriously swallowed the stale bread, glaring at Jim.

"Enjoyment is an emotion, James, and therefore I do not experience it."

"What?" Jim stopped pacing, "How can you say you don't have emotions?"

"Yea," said Bones as he pushed a glass of water into Spock's hands, "You were experiencing a lot of confusion earlier, how do you explain that?"

Spock straightened his back as he sat up and accepted the water. "It is to be expected as I have not meditated for an indeterminate amount of time as well as the –" Spock cut himself off as the calm in his face morphed into abject horror and right back again. He sipped at his water with trembling hands.

Jim noticed the sudden change and knelt in front of Spock on the floor, placing his hands on his legs to get his attention.

"Hey," he said, "what was that?"

Jim leaned forward when Spock refused to meet his eyes.

"Spock, what was it that made you confused earlier?"

"It is a simple fact that Vulcans do not partake in such trivialities as emotion, therefore this conversation is void."

Jim slapped his leg lightly, "Bullshit, you tell me what's wrong or I'll have Bones hypo you."

Spock looked to the doctor who already had the painful instrument in his hand, grinning.

"It'll be easier to get you essential nutrients like this anyway." Bones reached for Spock's arm but the Vulcan slipped out of his grasp, scooting quickly to the other side of the couch.

McCoy chuckled and stuffed the hypo back into his bag before taking Spock's unfinished bagel and water back into the kitchen. Spock glared after him until he was sure the doctor was gone.

"Rather than tell you, it would be easier for me to show you." Spock extended a hand towards Jim's face, "May I?"

Jim nodded before he had the chance to think about what he was agreeing to.

As Spock's fingers brushed against his face the room melted around him.

_Suddenly Jim was standing in the lobby of a starship but it wasn't Earth. All around him scurried tall thin blank faced Vulcans, some dragging children and elders behind them. The ship was shaking, metal creaked and spreading flames leapt from surface to surface, claiming belongings and unfortunate Vulcans, Jim gasped as a flaming figure darted past him only to trip into someone else and sent them both toppling to the ground. Jim reached out, grabbing at the sleeve of the woman next to him but she darted away. Jim coughed, smoke invading his lungs and burning his eyes. He pressed his hands to his face in an attempt to quell the stinging as he left side of the ship suddenly dropped. Jim was flung to the floor, smacking his head on a chair leg, he groaned, scrambling to his feet as the ship began to rattle around him. He moved with the Vulcans around him, herding down the narrow halls._

_Someone was screaming but in the sea of frantic Vulcans Jim couldn't see where it was coming from. The screams escalated until Jim was shoving his way through the crowd, paying no heed to the protests of those around him. Jim broke through the crowd, finding himself in a small alcove; three Vulcan men had grabbed another and were forcing him into a space pod. As Jim watched an oil lamp and bamboo mat were stuffed into the pod. The young Vulcan twisted away from his attackers so Jim could see his face. _

"_Spock!"_

_Jim darted forward as his friend's hands gripped the edges of the pod, straining against his kin as one slammed his fist into Spock's chest, knocking the breath out of him long enough that they could manhandle him into place. Jim grasped the shoulders of the Vulcans holding Spock down but his attempts had no effect as Spock's eyes locked with Jim's, the door to the pod shut and Spock was shut into space._

_The Vulcan men righted themselves, despair apparent on their faces. The ship shook again, creaking before the sickening bend and snap of metal reverberated through the halls. Jim closed his eyes, shutting out the roar of flames and phaser fire._

Jim's eyes shot open, realizing there were tears streaming down his face and that he was holding tightly onto Spock's hand. His forehead was pressed to Spock's, the tips of the Vulcan's fingers to his face.

Breathless, Jim looked up into Spock's chocolate brown eyes, finding pain and sadness deep set within them. He reached behind Spock's head, resting his palm on the back of Spock's neck.

"Spock." He whispered.

The Vulcan sighed, eyes fluttering shut as Jim's fingers carded through his hair.

"They were my responsibility. As the governor of Starship New Vulcan I was supposed to lead them to the colony, but we were attacked. My citizens forced me into the pod and shot me into space before I could protest… my pod… it seems like I was the only one that survived the blast – I…"

"Your family?" Jim asked, "Were they –"

"On Vulcan." Spock interrupted, "My father is one of Vulcan's elders, I was given this voyage as a test of my ability if I am to take his place on the council when I am of age," Spock's breath hitched suddenly when Jim leaned forward, brushing their lips together. His eyes shot open when he heard the doctor's foot fall approaching the front room.

Spock sat up, a mint green flush high on his cheeks when Bones reentered the room.

He looked between Jim and Spock, shaking his head. "That's enough of that you love birds, our time's better spent tracking down Spock's stuff than making out on Jim's couch."

Spock pulled away from Jim immediately and schooling his face into an emotionless mask.

"My apologies doctor, it seems that my lack of meditation has had an ill effect on my mental barriers. I assure you that I will have regained complete control of myself once I have meditated."

Jim wiped at his eyes and stood up, grinning, already shoving the near kiss to the back of his mind.

"Right!" he said to Bones, "You and I gotta go get Spock's stuff and then we'll figure out how to get him home!"

Bones raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Home? Like a planet home?"

"Indeed doctor, my planet is very much alive." Spock interjected. He pushed himself up off the couch; Jim wrapped an arm around Spock's waist to hold him steady, blushing at the flutter of the Vulcan's heart beneath his palm.

Spock glanced down at him and moved out of his arms, "I am quite alright now James." Jim's brow furrowed as he tried to hide the hurt from his face, for a second the Vulcan actually seemed like he was Jim's friend. Maybe they really didn't have emotion.

"The only problem is how to get you back there." McCoy said, having missed Jim and Spock's whole exchange. He crossed his arms over his chest. "The pod's probably done for and you both heard the announcement, they know Spock's here and they think he's dangerous Jim. How do we know that Pike won't put two and two together and realize that it was you who brought him on board –"

'Bzz… Bzz… Bzz…'

The trio turned to the arm of the couch where Jim's phone sat, ringing. Jim looked nervously to Bones who simply shrugged and gestured to the device as though to say 'well, pick it up you idiot.'

Jim stepped away from Spock and picked up the phone, "It's Pike," he said. Jim hit the answer button and held it up to his ear while waving for his friends to keep quiet.

"Hey Chris!" he greeted cheerily, "What's up?"

"Don't you even start with me Jim!" Pike hollered on the other line, "You brought it onboard? Seriously?"

Jim felt rage bubble up inside him; he almost exploded at Pike, if the Admiral had just believed him he wouldn't have had to go outside in the first place!

Instead he said, "I don't know what you're talking about Chris." He turned to his friends, pointing at Spock and motioning for Bones to give him a hat to cover his ears, Bones scrambled into the other room, "I was way too baked last night to remember anything I may have said or done." He sneered sarcastically for the Admiral's earlier accusation. Honestly, how could he even think that someone who planned on being a future Admiral would spend his time on drugs? And he thought Pike knew him.

"Damn it Jim! Security is on its way to your room right now to arrest you! Just tell me what happened so we can get this whole thing resolved –"

Jim ended the call and dropped the phone on the couch, paling at the thought of what Pike had told him. He whirled around, darting to his closet and grabbing up one of his command uniforms and shoving it into Spock's arms.

"They know Spock's here," he barked, directing the Vulcan to the restroom, "change into that and put your hat on, we've got to get you out of here!"

"Hold on a second Jim," Bones grabbed Jim's arm, ending his nervous rampage, "where the hell are we supposed to put him if not here?"

Jim looked at him expectantly.

Bones scoffed, eyes narrowing at his friend. "No Jim, no way. My kid's there."

"He's harmless Bones, Joanna will be fine." Jim hissed, "We have to put him somewhere, who knows what they'll do to him –"

"Did you ever think that maybe they've got a good reason for wanting him caught?!" Bones hollered, "We don't know anything about him, we don't know what's happened to him, where he's from… nothing!"

"His ship exploded!" Jim snapped, "He's the only survivor of a Starship full of Vulcans and you want me to just abandon him?"

Bones' expression softened as he cast a look at the door and then at Jim. "My kid Jim… I can't put her in harm's way."

"I assure you doctor that your child will come to no harm in my presence as the average Vulcan has five times the strength of the adult human male," he appeared in the bathroom door with his robes folded neatly in his arms and wearing Jim's gold command top and black trousers, both of which were too small and rode up exposing his ankles and a thin strip of pale skin about his middle. He tugged at the wool hat on his head, irritated at the itchiness of it.

Bones sighed, "Fine," he picked up his bag and started towards the door, "let's go then. My room has a working replicator; I'll have Jo show you how to make a real meal."

… … …

It was almost seven in the morning when the trio nearly ran down the hall away from Jim's room with Spock walking between them, making sure that no one got too close. No one confronted them except for when the running was too much for Spock and he had to sit down; an old woman had asked them if they needed help. Otherwise anyone they met caught a glimpse of their Starfleet uniforms and said nothing.

"Shit." Jim murmured as they approached the last corner before they got to Bones' room. A red shirted security officer stood there sipping at his coffee.

He looked up as they passed, "Hey." The trio stopped.

"Who's that in the middle there?" asked the officer, taking a step towards Spock, "I never seen him on this floor before."

"He's from… Wisconsin." Jim lied, clapping a hand on Spock's shoulder.

Spock extended a hand to the officer, a sour expression crossing his face upon being forced to engage in this particular human social custom.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Spock said through clenched teeth.

The officer grinned and shook Spock's hand, making Jim think they were in the clear when the officer took out his communicator and flipped it open.

"No worries guys, I just gotta run this by command, you can never be too careful with that intruder running around you know."

"That's not necessary." Spock said, clapping his hand on the officer's shoulder as Jim had done to him earlier.

The officer opened his mouth to rebut but simply emitted a small squawk before slumping against Spock who set him down carefully, propping him against the wall.

McCoy wrenched Spock up and away from the guy by his elbow, "What the hell was that?" he hissed as they started down the hall again.

Spock blinked at him one eyebrow raised, "I simply put him to sleep utilizing the nerve pinch, he was going to catch us."

"That doesn't mean you can go around nerve pinching people," said Jim, "If that guy spills the beans they have a real reason to think you're dangerous!"

Spock tilted his head to the side, confused, "Why would the spilling of beans condemn me?"

"It's an expression." Bones said as they approached his room. McCoy punched in the key code and the door slid open, "Stay here with Joanna until we come back," he demanded, "don't leave the room."

Spock nodded and stepped inside. The door closed behind him and Jim and McCoy left.

"You think they'll be alright Jim?" Bones asked as they ran for the lift.

"It'll be fine Bones, it's just Joanna. How bad could it be?"

"You're right," Jim hit the button for California and the Admirals' offices as they entered the turbolift, "where are we going?"

Jim grinned, "To see Chris."

… … …

Spock stood in the door of doctor McCoy's room, staring into the large eyes of a young girl who was draped over the back of the couch, watching him back.

"Hello." Spock greeted carefully.

"Hi," the girl looked him over, "You're not daddy."

"No I am not. I am a friend of… daddy's." Spock shifted his weight, thoroughly uncomfortable with the situation.

The little girl kicked her feet on the couch, "Do you want a juice box?"

Spock raised an eyebrow as she hopped off the couch and disappeared into the kitchen appearing a moment later with a small bright orange box in one hand and a straw in the other. She flopped back onto the couch and smiled at Spock over her shoulder.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" she asked, "Come sit down!"

"Okay." Spock took a seat next to her on the couch, taking the juice box she offered and following the bright television cartoons with his eyes.

"I'm Joanna by the way!" she squeaked.

Spock's lips twitched slightly at the corners and he took a sip from the juice box, enjoying the flavor, not knowing exactly what it was.

"It is nice to meet you Joanna, I am Spock."

… … …

It was mid-day by the time Jim and Bones arrived at Pike's office. It was impossible to miss; the grand double automatic doors bore the Starfleet insignia in gold and silver plating.

Jim took a deep breath and knocked.

The door opened immediately to reveal Pike seated at his desk and looking not at all happy.

"Chris –" Jim began.

"Get your asses in here before someone sees you." Pike barked. Bones and Jim approached the desk.

"Sit down." Jim opened his mouth to protest but was stopped by Pike's raised hand. "Sit." He did.

"Here's what's going to happen boys." Pike laced his fingers under his chin, "You're going to tell me _exactly_ what's going on and where you've hidden the alien and when the shit hits the fan I'll keep Komak from slitting your throats."

Jim frowned, "Who said anything about an alien?"

"It was obvious," Pike sputtered, "Just tell me."

"Obviously there's something you're not telling _us_." Bones said, crossing his arms in a huff, "so until you tell us we're not saying a word."

"Just tell us where the stuff that was in the pod is."

Pike glared at his adopted son before stooping behind his desk and retrieving a small black and gold lamp and a bamboo mat. Pike stood and circled around his desk.

"How about we arrange a trade? You tell me what's going on, hand over the alien, and I'll give you this." When Jim said nothing Pike slammed his hand on the desk, "Damn it Jim I'm trying to help you! You may not care what happens to yourself but Leonard has a child!"

Bones shot up immediately, towering over the Admiral, "Whaddaya mean by bringing my kid into it?"

Pike shrunk back, "What do you think will happen to your daughter after you've been arrested for treason?" he asked.

"Nothing." Bones growled, "Because Jim and I, we aren't getting arrested." He slammed his hand on Pike's shoulder. Before the Admiral could react and one successfully replicated Vulcan nerve pinch later Pike was a boneless lump on the floor and Bones picked up the meditation tools, tucking them into his jacket.

"Holy shit, how'd you do that?" asked Jim, in awe of his friend.

Bones grinned, wringing his hands, "I wanted to try it, didn't think it'd work."

"What happened to not attacking people?" Jim breathed.

Bones smirked and brushed past Jim to the door, "Don't mess with my kid, that's what."

After a final guilty glance back at Pike Jim scurried after his friend; anxious about making it back to Spock as quickly as possible.

… … …

Spock and Joanna looked up from the television and their juice boxes when there was a light knock on the door. Spock looked to Jo, bewildered.

"What do we do?" Spock asked.

"Open it!" she said, "It might be daddy and Uncle Jim!" Spock nodded and stalked to the door then, remembering what the doctor had told him, looked over his shoulder at Joanna. "Stay there." The little girl nodded seriously and snuggled down into the couch, hugging a pillow to her chest.

Spock pressed a button next to the door and it slid open. After all the doctor had said not to leave, he hadn't said anything about letting others in.

Before him stood a tall thin dark skinned woman who, if Spock didn't know any better, could be mistaken for a Vulcan. She looked him up and down and then over his shoulder at Joanna.

"Where's Leonard?" she asked, "And who are you?"

"I am Spock," he said obviously, "I am a friend of the doctor's."

"No you're not. I know all of Leonard's friends, you must be a friend of Kirk's." she shoved past Spock into the apartment and he let her do it. He didn't know who she was to the doctor and really would rather not offend him. So he shut the door and approached the couch where the woman had taken his seat and was talking to Joanna.

"Where did you get all these sweets dear? You know daddy doesn't want you eating this many cookies."

Spock looked at the coffee table in front of the television, confused. The doctor had said that his daughter would show him a proper meal and Joanna had explained to him that it was the best, as well as what everything was.

Snickers, jolly ranchers, Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, mountain dew, sprite, and ice cream.

Joanna pointed a chubby finger accusingly at Spock. "Spockie got them for me!"

Spock raised an angular brow at the nickname as the young woman turned her glare on him.

"She asked for them and several were too high on the shelf for her to reach."

"That's because her father doesn't want her to have them." The woman snapped.

Spock frowned in confusion, "The doctor did not leave me any instructions on the matter."

The woman shook her head, "You're hopeless," she said, "obviously you have no clue how to take care of a little girl so I'll just have to stick around and help."

Spock's other eyebrow joined the first as she joined Joanna in watching the television. Spock took a seat on the floor in front of them and pulled his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and resting his chin on his knees.

"Okay."

… … …

Jim and Bones collapsed in a sweaty out of breath heap on the floor outside Bones' apartment. God damn Jim for being so pig headed, he'd insisted that the route he planned would be clear. They'd just outrun ten security officers at top speed through the winding corridors of Starship Earth. They were dead tired.

Bones grunted and stood, helping Jim up and they both stumbled through the door.

The doctor's jaw dropped at the sight before him and Jim gasped audibly, flying into panic mode before realizing that the two figures on the floor were asleep rather than dead as his overactive imagination had caused him to believe.

Bones' couch had been pushed back from the television to make room for Spock and Joanna who were sleeping on the carpet, Joanna draped across Spock's chest and his hand resting on her back.

Spock had been rearranged as well. Now he had trousers that fit and a blue shirt that actually covered his stomach – Jim frowned upon this – and his hair looked like it had been cut around a bowl. His ears were now exposed.

The culprit?

Nyota Uhura grinned at them from where she lay on the couch.

"Welcome home boys." She chuckled.

"Nyota?" Bones gasped, "What are you doing here?"

Nyota held a finger to her lips then pointed to Spock and Joanna, "Careful, don't wanna wake the kids." She stood and stepped gingerly over the two slumbering on the floor.

"We _did_ have a date ya know." She said, glaring at Bones. His face fell.

"Oh, right, I may have… forgot a little?"

"It's good that I came over though," she said, "I caught these two pigging out on all your candy. Probably should have explained the house rules to the Vulcan before you gave them free reign of your apartment."

One moment passed and then another. Uhura looked between the two, astonished.

"Did you really think I wouldn't be able to tell? Honestly you guys, I'm on the xenolinguistics communications track, I think I know an alien when I see one."

"And you're not going to tell anyone?" Bones asked.

"Ha! No way!" Uhura linked arms with Bones, "How often does anyone ever get to talk to a real live alien? And knowing you two there's probably a great story behind all this."

Bones scratched the back of his neck, "Well, yea." He took the tools out of his jacket and set them on the table, leading Uhura and Jim to the couch.

"We'll tell you all about it, and then we'll wake them up."


	3. Extra

Extra: So a Vulcan, a pair of scissors and a cereal bowl walk into a bar…

**Please Review!**

**Enjoy! **

**(does not own)**

Spock, Joanna and their mystery woman had been sitting silently, eyes trained on the television for an hour. No one said a word and, after a while Uhura began to feel horribly awkward about it.

She tore her eyes away from the television long enough to take a nice long look at this Spock. At the yellow crop top and capris as well as the fact that his hair cascaded down the back of his neck in unnatural mullet like fashion.

"Whose clothes are you wearing?" she asked bluntly.

Spock looked up from the tele at her and shrugged. "James leant them to me; I suppose walking around in my robes would have attracted more attention to us." He looked back at the tv.

"So you're one of Jim's conquests then? That's why you're wearing his clothes?"

Spock shook his head slightly, eyes still trained straight ahead. "James found me and took care of me; it was quite kind actually as I have never done a thing to warrant such kindness in my life. Now he and the good doctor are retrieving my meditation tools for me seeing as how if I leave the room I will, no doubt, be arrested."

For a moment Uhura was speechless. The guy was making no sense whatsoever. What meditation tools? What robes? Jim was kind to someone without intention to get sex from them?!

Suddenly all the pieces clicked into place and Uhura had to remind herself not to freak the fuck out because there was a child in the room.

"So you're the guy the announcement was telling us to look out for?" she asked calmly.

Spock nodded once, "It seems as though you humans do not take well to visitors." He looked up at Nyota, "Are you going to turn me in now?"

"No," she said, not exactly knowing why. The Admiralty had ordered the guy captured and here she was watching cartoons with him. But this was Jim's – and possibly Leonard's – friend. If he was with them then he couldn't be all bad. "No, I'm gonna help you out. Here, get up." She got up with Spock and, subsequently, Joanna, following behind her and led them to the kitchen.

Uhura pulled up a stool from the pantry and ordered Spock to sit.

"Alright Joanna," Nyota said, crouching down to the girl's height, "I need you to go to those cupboards over there and find me a bowl that will just fit over Spockie's head, alright?"

The little girl nodded excitedly and bounded over to her father's cupboards, throwing open all the doors and clanking around in search of her bowl. Nyota copied her, only much calmer and she knew exactly where what she was looking for was.

Once she'd found the scissors and started towards Spock he leapt up, keeping her at arm's length.

"What are those for?" he demanded, eyes narrowing at the sharp instrument in the woman's hand.

Nyota rolled her eyes and closed the scissors, holding them out to Spock so he could inspect them, "you need a haircut dork, I didn't think you were idiotic enough to not know what scissors are, but here, take a look at 'em if they're so scary."

Spock leered at the scissors but refused to touch them, "I do not usually allow people near me with sharp objects, in my experience what usually follows such events is an assassination attempt." Nyota paused and frowned.

Who the hell was this guy that assassinations were a common experience for him? Did such a person even exist?

Before Nyota could bring it up Joanna bounded towards her with just the right size of bowl balanced in her small hands. Uhura smiled at her in thanks and picked her up, setting her on the counter so she could watch as she took Spock's arm, leading him back to his seat. She placed the bowl over Spock's head gently, reassuring him with a smile.

"I'm a friend of Leonard's dear," she said, "and while I'm no professional barber I'll do my best not to hurt you."

Spock took a moment before he agreed with a slow nod and resigned himself to a haircut. He sat rigidly still as Nyota started in with the scissors. She snipped his hair away a bit too quickly for him and it was a struggle to not nerve pinch her and get the hell out of dodge, but she was a friend of the doctor's and she seemed nice enough, Joanna liked her. Spock simply clenched his hands where they rested on his knees when her hand brushed against his neck. The sensation was nothing compared to the reaction in his mind when Jim had touched him, while Jim felt light and airy, she felt grounded and solid like a wall.

Suddenly Spock was very aware that he was allowing himself to dwell on an emotion that he was not supposed to have, he found himself longing to touch Jim's mind again but was left with the cold smooth sensation of Uhura brushing strands of hair from his shoulder. It was rather unpleasant.

Spock jumped and jerked away from Uhura as her scissors nicked his ear, the bowl tumbling to the ground as he ran. Suddenly he was standing across the room, a frightened look on his face and clutching his bleeding ear with one hand.

Nyota immediately set down the scissors and picked up the bowl from where it fell, setting them both on the counter. She was prepared to berate him for being such a baby but gasped when she saw the blood seeping between his fingers, both because, holy shit she cut the guy, but also because the blood was green.

She approached him slowly, peeling his hand away from his ear and brushing the rest of his hair away, revealing the only external feature that could easily cause any human to brand him alien. But rather than point out the obvious fact that Spock wasn't human Nyota turned and rushed to the cupboard where Leonard kept his more simple medical supplies.

She returned and pressed antibacterial and a band aid to his ear before he could protest.

"I'm so sorry,"Nyota gushed and then giggled, "If I'd known there was more ear there I would have been more careful!"

"You do not seem surprised to see that I am not human." He said skeptically.

Nyota laughed again, "Well, it certainly explains why you're so weird… you're Vulcan aren't you?"

Spock nodded, letting himself be led back to the chair and set down, "well, now that I know what to be careful of, why don't you let me finish your haircut, then we'll find you some clothes that fit – maybe some of Leonard's old ones – and then you tell me all about Vulcan. I am a xenolinguist you know."

Spock raised an eyebrow as he watched the rest of the clumps of his shaggy hair drop to the floor. "Is that so?"

She nodded and from where she sat on the counter Joanna began to hum, becoming bored with the whole process. Perhaps if Spock were human he would have smiled at his sudden capacity for making friends, he rather enjoyed it, getting such attention from people other than his mother. Though the pain of the loss of his colony was something Spock was sure would never fade perhaps he could bring some good meaning from his failed voyage. Now thanks to Joanna he knew that he adored children, he felt that he could deal with the grumpiest of humans now that he'd met the good doctor, he had a strong feeling that human females would prove to be valuable friends thanks to Nyota, and Jim… Spock did allow himself a small smile at the thought of the man who'd so selflessly saved his life. He didn't know what he felt for Jim but then Nyota was leading him out into the front room to hunt for clothes, he'd figure it out later.


End file.
